It’s a stretch to respond to the signing of a capable LH reliever with “This is huge!” or “Purchase your playoff tickets before they’re sold out!” This article is not that. But the A’s re-signing of TJ McFarland to a contract for 2025 might be more than just the addition (by non-subtraction) of a “decent” pitcher in a fungible role.
Perhaps Most Significant
With the A’s relocating for 2025 to a AAA ballpark, questions reasonably arise as to whether or not the Citiless A’s can attract free agents. We know they can attract players they trade for and prospects they draft, because those players have no choice. But every free agent has a choice.
Now obviously McFarland is not Juan Soto or even Willy Adames. The A’s already had difficulty attracting free agents in Oakland and yet they were still able to “lure” players like McFarland, e.g., Alex Wood, Ross Stripling, Aledmys Diaz, Abraham Toro.
That being said, it’s still also true that a player like McFarland, coming off of a very solid season in a role that has some value to contending teams, had more than one option and nonetheless decided voluntarily to sign with the A’s rather than trying to latch on elsewhere on likely a very similar deal.
It’s not a sign that the A’s will be in the running for any of the expensive free agents seeking multi-year bonanzas, but it is a sign that there is a path for players who have multiple options to see the A’s as the one they want. That’s a very good thing.
McFarland Is Actually Good
The A’s insist they are looking to improve their 2025 team towards contention, flatly announcing they will not be trading Brent Rooker and that they will be increasing payroll from 2024.
We will see how successfully Forst and Co. are able to build a team that looks like it win 80...85...90 games, rather than this year’s 69, but if they do construct a potentially competitive roster McFarland is going to add to it.
In 2024, McFarland was legitimately good in his league leading 79 appearances. He doesn’t wow you because his K rates are extremely modest (6.19/9 IP), but his strong ground ball tendencies (57.3% in 2024, 61.7% for his career) make him an important weapon. (How many times did he come into a jam and get a key DP?)
If you’re worried that his ground ball rate was slightly down in 2024, you can rest assured that those missing ground balls were actually replaced by a few more strikeouts — McFarland’s career K rate is just 5.39/9 IP but he struck out nearly one more batter per 9 IP in 2024.
McFarland is durable, throws strikes, gets ground balls, and pitched much better than his season stats would even suggest. When you make 79 appearances but throw just 56.2 IP, a couple clunkers will inflate your overall numbers something fierce. And that’s precisely what happened to TJ: 2 disastrous outings clouded how great he was in the other 77.
On May 5th against the Miami Marlins, apparently McFarland wasn’t feeling the “Cinco de Mayo” mojo. He pitched one inning and was charged with 6 hits and 4 ER. (As a ground ball pitcher, he isn’t just subject to an occasional bad outing, he is also prone to an occasional outing where every ground ball just finds a hole.) And on June 30th against the Arizona Diamondbacks, he lasted only 0.1 IP charged with 4 hits and 3 ER.
In the other 77 of his 79 appearances? Instead of his season’s 3.81 ERA you get a 2.77 ERA in 55.1 IP, allowing just 43 hits, with 16 BB and 39 K. (For those who like WHIP that’s 1.07.) If you give me a reliever who can produce those numbers in all but 2 of his league leading number of appearances, he can do whatever he wants on those 2 other days and I’m fine with it.
McFarland’s Success Is Real
We know relievers are inherently volatile from year to year and that no one can predict what McFarland’s 2025 will look like. But if 2024 was an excellent season for a reliever whose career has been generally mediocre, it’s worth noting that TJ’s success was built on a specific change that is measurable and sustainable.
McFarland changed his arm slot to a much lower crossfire delivery which impacted movement, location, deception, repeatability — many of the qualities that enable a pitcher to both have and maintain success.
In other words, this is not some small sample in which Joe Boyle says “I have no idea why I’m able to throw strikes this month for the first time...” and then of course reverts back to being wild as all get up. This is a pitcher who will go into 2025 with the same arm slot he used in 2024 but not from 2013-2023, and I will take my chances with that.
Conclusion
It’s not a “big signing” or anything, but all the underlying metrics say the A’s just signed a quality player — and that even if it’s not a “great signing” it’s a great sign that they were McFarland’s first choice clear back in November when he could have peddled his services for several months before spring training.
